HEROIN BUST

Deputies led Robert Cote III into court Friday. Cote faces numerous drug charges, including a charge of trafficking heroin. Photo by Christopher Roy

NEWPORT CITY - Robert Cote III, 24, of Irasburg, was in criminal court Friday on numerous drug charges, including trafficking of heroin, being in possession of a gun in the commission of a felony, and cruelty to a child under the age of 10 for allegedly leaving drugs and guns in the vicinity of a child. Cote pleaded not guilty.
Judge Howard VanBenthuysen, on the request of prosecutor Cathy Norman from Vermont Attorney General's Office, increased Cote's original bail from $100,000 to $150,000, to ensure Cote appears at his future court dates.
The affidavit states that Cote frequently traveled out of state to buy heroin to resell in Vermont. Selling heroin is a business that's transacted in cash with little income reported. The Vermont Drug Task Force seized more than $3,000 in cash from Cote's residence even though he is unemployed, Norman said.

For more of this story, see Page 1 of Monday's edition of The Newport Daily Express for Feb. 25, 2013.